After Hungary and Slovakia sent a team to inspect the supposed damage to the Druzhba pipeline, which has been cited as the reason for this key energy transit line’s closure since Jan. 27, Ukraine is denying that they receive any official communication regarding the visit and claiming that the visit will include no meetings with government authorities.

Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade has since responded, blasting what they say are clear lies of Ukraine, specifically, of President Zelensky, and attaching the letter sent to his government.

The dispatch of the mission to Ukraine, including Slovak citizens, was confirmed on Wednesday by Hungarian Deputy Energy Minister Gábor Czepek, among others, writes Do Rzeczy. He announced on social media that the delegation will assess the actual state of infrastructure and prepare conditions for restarting oil transport.

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However, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has maintained a different story, with spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi stating that a group of Hungarian citizens did indeed enter Ukrainian territory, but did not have the status of an official delegation. According to the Ukrainian side, these individuals crossed the border under the rules applicable to citizens of Schengen countries and have no scheduled meetings with Ukrainian government officials.

“The Ukrainian president is lying,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó opened his post on X. “@ZelenskyyUa claims he was unaware that a Hungarian delegation would arrive in Ukraine because the Hungarian government did not coordinate the visit with the Ukrainian MFA.”

“Here are the facts,” he continues. “Yesterday we informed the Ukrainian authorities in an official diplomatic note that a Hungarian delegation, led by Deputy Minister for Energy Gábor Czepek, would travel to Ukraine to inspect the condition of the Druzhba oil pipeline. We also requested a meeting with the Ukrainian energy minister. The reality is that Ukraine has blocked oil shipments to Hungary at a time when maritime oil transport faces the greatest uncertainty in history, while the only alternative to the Druzhba pipeline is the sea route.”

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Ukraine itself has also carried out attacks on the Druzhba, with the aim of permanently shutting down any transport of oil from Russia. In his post, Szijjártó also revealed that Ukraine is now attacking another pipeline, the TurkStream, a report corroborated by Gazprom via Reuters. This is further threatening energy supplies at a time when global oil prices are skyrocketing due to the war in Iran.

“Ukraine has now attacked the infrastructure of TurkStream in Russia, which guarantees Hungary’s gas supply. Without TurkStream, Hungary simply cannot be supplied with gas safely from a geographical and physical standpoint. Ukraine’s oil blockade through the Druzhba pipeline and this strike against TurkStream are serious attacks on our sovereignty,” he wrote.